X x x s sxgkktments



Jan. 3, 1928.

F. FARREL. JR

CANE MILL Original Filed Feb.16, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 3, 1928. 1,655,094

F. FARREL. JR

CANE MILL Original Filed Feb.l6. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN FABREL, .73., NEW HAVEN CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO FABBEL-BIRMINGHAM COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF ANSONIA,

CONNECTICUT, CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

cum 1mm.

Original application filed February 16, 1921, Serial No. 445,527. Divided and this October 21, 1921.

This invention relates to cane grinding machinery, such as employed for theaextraction of juice from sugar cane. In some of itsv aspects it is particularly applicable to 5 mills having a plurality of pairs of so-called preliminary crushing rolls which are arranged in front of one or more stands of 'juice expressing rolls. The invention s articularly concerned with mills or grin mg apparatus of'the type set forth in my application, Serial No. 445,527, filed February 16, 1921, of which the present application is a division. 7

One of the primary objects of my invention is to increase the efliciency of the grinding or crushing of the cane stalks.

Another object of my invention is to provide' a machine in'which the cane is preliminarily crushed and shredded more efl'ec- 99 tively than in former practice, so that the stalks will be more thoroughly disintegrated and laid open and the fibres more thoroughly separated for the action of the following rolls which expre s the juice from the fibres.

Another object of my invention is to provide a piurality of pairs of preliminary crushing rolls so arranged that the cane will pass from one pair to the other prior to its being directed to the juice expressing rolls and of such construction that the stalks will be progressively or increasingly crushed and shredded during its passage through the successive pairs of rolls.

A still further object of my invention is :55 to furnish an improved cane mill havinga plurality of sets ofJpreliminary 'crushing rolls constituting a multiple crusher, such multiple crusher having in addition to its crushing or shredding action a more effective juice expressing action than has been customary heretofore.

To these and other ends the invention'consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevatio partly shown in section of a cane mill emod mg my improvements; p

ig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1 showing the gears on the several rolls;

application filed Serial No. 509,257.

F ig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 2 illustrating the gearing used to drive the rolls;

Fig. 4' is a diagrammatic view of the various rolls of a complete installation; and

Fig. 5 shows in detail the annular grooves of the various roll, of the installation partially shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and fully shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4.

In the millshown in Fig. 1, I have illustrated a preliminary crusher A in front of a juice expressing mill B. The crusher comprises two pairs C and D of rolls designed to crush and shred, the cane stalks prior to delivery thereof to the juice expressing mill B. The number of pairs of preliminary crushing rolls may be in the particular embodiment now under discussion, it 'may be assumed for the purposes of description that the raw cane as it comes varied, if desired, but 4 from the field is delivered to the rolls of a part of the juice therefrom, as will be hereinafter explained. The cane moves from the crusher D over the ordinary inclined bed, which I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate and enters between the rolls 14 and 15 of the first roll stand E of the mill B. These rolls express a portion of the juice from the cane, which, as it leaves them, is

deflected upwardly in the customary manner by the well known turn late 16, so as to pass between the upper r01 14 and the bagasse purpose of this description that the mill B also includesa plurality of roll stands F, G a'ndI-I following the stand E, through which the stalks are directed by means of suitable .roll 17. It may be assumed also for the conveyors or carriers between the several stands in accordance with the usual practice.

The crushingrolls ma be of any a prdved type, but refera ly they W111 be p vided with teet for hooking or drawin in the cane, so that the latter will be fed into the machine uniformiy and expeditious 1y. In the en'ibodiment under discussion, the rolls 10 and 11 are provided with a plurality ot' annular or circumtcrential grooves 10 and 11, which are sub tautially V-shaped in crosssection. The provision of the circumferential V-shaped grooves of the rolls creates correspondingly shaped ridges or ribs and the ribs of the upper tllbllt't roll enter the grooves ol the lower crusher roll with a certain amount of clearance, as is ca tomary.

In order to provide teeth for hooking into the cane stalks and drawing them into the machine, the preferred practice is to cut a plurality of generally longitudinal gro ve 10 and 11 in each crusher roll intersect ing the transverse. i. e.. annular V-shaped grooves. The cross-sectional shape of the longitudinal grooves 10" and 11 in the preferred form can be seen to some extent in Fig. l. \v'hile. however. these grooves 10 and 11 are longitudinal in a general sense. they are preferably not exactly parallel to the axis of the roll; in fact it is considered the best practice to provide an obtuse angle in each lengthwise groove, as shown in Fig. 3. In other words, a slightly inclined groove extending from one end of the roll to the center or tl'iereabouts, meets at the latter point a similar groove inclined in the opposite direction and extending to the other end of the roll. These grooves may be inclined at an angle of. say 10 to the roll axis. as such as arrangement has given very good results in practice. 1

For increasing the crushing etl'ect ot the rolls and particularly of the preliminary crushing rolls, and of augmenting the capacity of the machine. a ditl'crential motion oi one roll relative to its mate or reacting roll is provided. \Vith this in view one roll is arranged to rotate at a materially greater surface speed than the roll on the opposite side of the cane stalk between which two rolls the cane passes and by which it is fed. The result is that the cane stalks are torn apart more thoroughly and more etl'ectivcly shredded and opened up so as to separate and permit the separation of the individual juice carrying fibres. The provision of the ditlerent surface speeds in the respective rolls of a pair of cane grinding rolls and particularly crushing rolls is considered of special ad 'antage in the cas where the crushing rolls are provided with teeth. such. for example, as the crushing rolls shown in Fi s. 1 and 2, but, if desired. this feature may be also used in connection with the juice expressing rolls, or, in other words, the ordinary three-roll mills that follow the preliminary crushing rolls, or it may be useful in connection with a mill in which one or more rolls have a hooking or drawing in and shredding action on the cane and a considerable juice expressing action in addition.

In the embodiment of my invention selected for illustration, the crusher rolls 10 and 11 and 12 and 13 are ditierentially driven, but. in this particular case, the rolls of the three-roll mills lC. F. G and 1: are driven at substantially the same speed. ditl'erential drive which produces a friction motion may be, if desired. utilized in connection with crushing rolls having no teeth or grooves, it is usually desirable that. the rolls be provided with a somewhat roughened SUI- t'acc to enable them to grip the cane stalk which is somewhat slippery. as a result. of the l'aet that the -.--hpper v price as v oon as it enters the maanc becomes covered with chine. The teeth of llb preliminary crusher are especially desirable for the prevention ol' the slippage ol' the roll urface on the iret and slippery mass ol' cane inasmuch as they provide a mean tor penetrating the stalks. or at any rate. of gripping them so ellertivelv that the feeding of the cane into the machine will not be arrested, which might z-therwise be the case.

'lhe dill'erential motion ot the crushing rolls may readily be obtained by the proper toothing and size of the driving gears and in this connection the gear 18 secured to the shaft 19 of the roll 10 has a somewhat larger number of teeth than the eoacting gear 20 secured to the shaft 21 of the lower roll ll. lV-ith such an arrangement, it is seen that the top roll 10 will be driven at a slower speed than the lower roll 11. It has been found desirable to arrange the number of gea r teeth so that one of the rolls is driven so a to have a surface speed approximately 13% slower than the other, although the dill'erenee in speed may be varied as de ired and the gears may also be so arranged that the top crusher roll is driven at a greater speed than the lower roll. that is. the opposite arrangei'nent from that: shown in the drawings may he provided. if desired. without departing from the invention. and it will be understood that I do not limit nrvself to anv Specific diflerence in the surfa e spe d lVhile the the coacting rolls or to the exact arrangement shown wherein the upper roll is driven at a speed slower than that ot the lower.

The tooth ng of the econd pair of crushing rolls l. and 12) is of somewhat similar character to that of the rolls 1t) and 11 inst described. but in this case there are a less number ol' teeth, although the pit h of the annular ribs is about the same. In other words. the rolls 12 and 13 have a materiallx smaller number of longitudinal corrngations 12 and 15 than do the rolls 10 and 11. This is so because there is less necessity for hooking into the cane to draw or drag it along than there is in the case of the first crusher; and with a less number of longitudinal corrugations. that is. where there are fewer gaps or interruptions in the (:ir cnmference of the roll, there is provided a greater ameunt of squeezing surface. In the partieuiar case now under discussion, there are approximately twice as many longitudi n'ai grooves in crushing rolls and ll as in the second pair of rolls l2 and 13. and hence the juice expressing function of the iatter is cor id ably greater. wish to limit a u however, to any specific number of corrugations in any of the crushing rolls or to any specific ratio between the number of teeth of one pair and the number of another pair, for various changes may he made in this regard, if desired. -The circmnferential grooves in the second pair of rolls are similar in form and number to those in the first pair.

It is also desirable in some cases to drive the second pair of crushing rolls at a differential surface speed and to this end the gear 22 connected to the shaft 23 of the roll 12 is formed with a greater number of-jteeth than the gear 24 secured to the shaft 25 of the roll 13, thus driving the upperroll at a. slower surface speed than the lower, as is the case with the first pair of crushing rolls 10 and 11.

It is obvious, however, that if desired, the upper roll of the crusher D may be driven at a greater speed than that of the lower roll, thus-providing anopposite arrangementto'that of the first crusher, and various other arrangements might be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The mill E may be driven from a shaft 26 connected with or carrying the roll 14 and a gear 27 on said shaft meshes with a 'gear28 on the shaftof the roll 15 and a gen-r29 on the shaft of the roll 17; As shown, the gears 27, 28 and 29 'are all of the same diameter and contain the same number ofteeth', thus driving the three mill rolls at the same speed. If desired, however, these gears may be formed with different numbers of teeth to produce a differential motion between any two or all of the rolls: I

The mill rolls of the different inill stands E, F, G and H are provided with annular grooves, (as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the cane rolls being provided with, the deep grooves which are for the purpose of carrying off juice caught in the space between the bite of the top and cane Hills and the uppermost portion of the cane rolls. I f desired, the top roll of the first miil E may be also provided with the longitudinal grooves or corruga- .tions and such an arrangement is sometimes found to be advantageous, as the first 'of the mills is sometimes called upon to furthe r shred the'cane in addition to expressing the juice therefrom. I am aware that in rior three-roll mills andpossibly in preliminary crushers, there have been surface speed differences between coacting rolls caused by the uneven wear of I do not than one or two percent, generailyless, and

it has been produced unintentionally and not by dissimilar gear toothin or for the purpose of producing the s iightly increased shredding effect, which may be incidentally caused thereby; whereas, in my invention an clfcctive shredding action is brought about intentionally and the mill designed accordin gly and as the roll surfaces wear, the tcndenvy is further to increase. the intentional shredding elfect, which has the advantages herein statedof increasing to a marked ex: tent. the cfliciency of the mill.

1 do not broadly'claim herein a cane mill having coacting rolls driven at substantially different surface speeds as claims to Sllcli subject matter are made in the parent application, Serial No. 445,527, hereinbefore relerred to, nor do I claim broadly in this application a three-roll cane mi-ll having annularly grooved coacting rolls driven at substantially different surface speeds, as claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 465,958, filed May 2, 1921. i i

Various changes maybe made in the details of the machine, as particularly described herein, without digrcssing from mv inventive concept as expressed in the claims.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In a cane mill, a plurality of pairs of longitudinally toothed crushing rolls, the teeth of therolls of a succeeding pair being. coarser than those of a preceding pair."

having a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls j for breaking open, shredding; and, extract- "Inn 2. A preliminary crusher for cane mills ing the juice fromstalks of sugar cgtnq-said rolls being provided with similargtlnrranged teeth, and the teeth of the rolis 'of'a succecding pai'r being coarser than those of a preceding pain.

3. In a cane millpa plurality of pairsofi' toothed crushing rolls of substantially the same diameter, the rolls of a succeeding pam having alcss number of teeth of greater cir cumferential dimension and having a greater ex ressing surface than the rolls of a prece ing p'alr.

4. In a cane mill, a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls having similarly arranged teeth thereon, the rolls of a succeeding pairhaving a less number of teeth than the rolls of a preceding pair. I

5. In a cane mill, a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls, the rolls of each pair having longitudinal rooves as well as circumferential V-shape grooves, providing teeth to hook in the cane, and the rolls of a succeeding pair having a less number of teeth than those of a precedin pair.

6. In a cane mil, a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls, the rolls ofeach pair having longitudinal as well as circumferential grooves, providing teeth' to hook in the cane,

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and the rolls of a'suceeeding pair having a less number of teeth than those of a preceding pair, the grooves of the respective pairs being of approximately the same dunensions.

7. In a cane mill,'a pair of crushing rolls having a. series of circumferential grooves and a series of generally longitudinal grooves intersecting the circumferential grooves and providing teeth distributed over the periphery of the rolls, a succeeding pair of crushing rolls to which the cane is fed from the first pair, the rolls of said second pair having similar circumferential and generally longitudinal grooves but a less number of generally longitudinal grooves, whereby the squeezing surface of the second pair of rolls is. increased'as compared to thefirst pair of rolls.

8. In a cane mill, a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls having circumferential grooves of the same pitch and having longitudinal grooves forming teeth, the rolls of one pair having a less number of longitudinal grooves than the rolls of an adjacent pair.

9. In a cane mill, a plurality of pairs of Brushing rolls having circumferential grcoves of the same itch and having longitudinal grooves forming teeth, therolls of a following pair having a less number of longitudinal grooves than a preceding pair.

10. In a cane mill, a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls, each of said rolls having a series of circumferential grooves and a series of longitudinal grooves providing teeth to hook into the cane and the rolls of one pair having substan ially the same number of circumferential grooves as those of an adjacent pair buta different number of longitudinal grooves.

11. A preliminary crusher for cane mills having a plurality of pairs of crushiiig rolls for breaking open the stalks, between which the stalks are passed successively, the rolls of one pair having markedly different surface speeds to produce a shredding action on n I, l

the cane, said rolls being provided with teeth for hooking into the cane, and a succeeding pair of rolls being coarser than a preceding pair.

12. A mill for grinding sugar cane having a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls between which the stalks are passed successively, one of the rolls of at least one pair having a markedly different surface speed from that of its mate, all of said rolls being provided with teeth for hooking into the cane, and the rolls of a succeeding pair having a less number of teeth than those of a preceding pair, so as to increase the juice expressing aclionof such succeeding pair.

13''. In a cane mill. av plurality of pairs of toothed crushing rolls. the teeth of the rolls of a succeeding pair having a great-er cireum fcrcnt ial dimension and therefore a larger expressing surface than those of a preceding pair.

14. In a cane mill, a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls having longitudinally extending teeth. the teeth of the roller of a succeeding pair having a greater dimension circumferentially of the roll than those of a preceding pair, and having a greater juice expressing surface.

15. A preliminary crusher for cane mills having a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls, all of said rolls being ,of substantially the same diameter and being provided with circumferential ribs interrupted by longitudinal grooves, the rolls of a succeeding pair having a larger expressing surface with reference to a given length of the rolls than those of the preceding pair.

16. A preliminary crusher for cane mills having a plurality of pairs of crushing rolls, all of said rolls being provided with circumferential ribs interrupted by longitudinal grooves, there being a smaller percentage of the rib surfaces deleted by the longitudinal grooves ofa succeeding pair than in a preceding pair, whereby the rolls of the succeediug pair have a. larger expressing surface than those of the preceding pair.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 10th day of October, 1921.

FRANKLIN FARR EL, JR.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,655,094. Granted January 3, 1928, to

FRANKLIN FARREL, .III.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4, line 75, claim 14, for the word "roller" read "rolls"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the qase in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 31st day of January, A. D. 1928.

M. J. Moore,

SeaI. Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

